Silver success — Varsity places third, JV wins bracket
The Newcastle Lady Dogies overcame a short-handed roster to finish third in the Silver Bracket at the Rawlins Tournament on Sept. 11-12.
Newcastle’s junior varsity team added a first-place finish in its Silver Bracket.
Head coach Mickey Crabtree moved several C team players to the JV roster and elevated JV players to varsity because the Lady Dogies were missing players.
“All the players did great this weekend,” Crabtree said. “The JV girls did great with more playing time at the varsity level.”
The varsity team finished the six-match tournament with two victories, three losses and one split. Newcastle closed the weekend by defeating Pinedale 21-19, 21-16 to secure third place in the Silver Bracket.
Crabtree said Anika Oleson stepped into a larger role and made a significant difference for Newcastle’s offense. The Lady Dogies also benefited from the time they spent working on serve receive during the previous week’s practices.
Newcastle opened tournament play with a 21-13, 21-20 loss to Lovell. Adalyn Olson led the attack with six kills and added an ace and nine digs. Kyndal Von Eye distributed 10 assists, while Lillie Morrill recorded four kills and eight digs.
Brystal Sweet finished with seven digs, and Aspyn Archer contributed two kills and a block assist. Newcastle totaled 14 kills, 14 assists and 37 digs.
Glenrock defeated the Lady Dogies 21-13, 21-14 in their second match. Von Eye recorded eight assists and five digs, while Morrill finished with two kills, one ace, one solo block and five digs.
Olson and Sweet collected six digs apiece, and Kaia Pederson added two kills and five digs.
Newcastle then split two sets with Pinedale. The Lady Dogies fell 21-18 in the opening set before taking the second 21-20.
Oleson led Newcastle’s response with four kills, one solo block and two block assists. Sweet recorded an ace and a team-high seven digs, while Von Eye supplied seven assists. The Lady Dogies finished the match with four aces and six total blocks.
Newcastle earned its first win of the tournament by defeating Rawlins 22-21, 21-19. The Lady Dogies turned in their strongest offensive performance of the weekend with 22 kills and 22 assists, while their defense recorded 51 digs.
Olson led the attack with eight kills. She also had an ace, a solo block and eight digs. Von Eye directed the offense with 21 assists and added nine digs.
Morrill finished with seven kills and a team-high 10 digs, while Oleson added five kills. Sweet contributed an ace and seven digs.
Tongue River stopped Newcastle 21-18, 21-10 in the fifth match. The Lady Dogies remained within three points throughout the opening set before the Eagles pulled away in the second.
Olson recorded four kills, one solo block, two block assists and five digs. Von Eye had nine assists, one kill and two blocks, while Morrill added two kills, two block assists and six digs. Oleson chipped in three kills and a block assist.
Newcastle rebounded in the Silver Bracket finale, defeating Pinedale in straight sets. The Lady Dogies finished the match with 16 kills, four aces, seven total blocks and 50 digs.
Von Eye recorded 12 assists, two kills, two block assists and eight digs. Olson supplied four kills, two aces, one solo block, one block assist and 11 digs.
Morrill anchored the back row with 17 digs and added an ace. Oleson contributed four kills and two block assists, while Jenna Dixon served an ace and collected seven digs.
Crabtree said Newcastle will continue working on defense and running its offense in practice this week.
The Lady Dogies host Douglas on Friday, Sept. 18. Two C team matches begin at 2 p.m., followed by JV at 3 p.m. and varsity at 4 p.m.
Newcastle travels to Tongue River on Saturday, Sept. 19. The C team plays at noon, followed by JV at 1 p.m. and varsity at 2 p.m.
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